Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed
Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed is the 12th episode of VeggieTales, and the second Larry-Boy episode. Plot Percy Pea and Lil' Pea are leaving a movie theater and are cornered by a shady Scallion (Scallion #3, the "Milk Money Bandit") who asks them for a nickel. Percy refuses, but the Scallion then demands the money he is carrying for milk money. After stealing the money and escpaing to the rooftops with his loot, Larry-Boy (Larry the Cucumber) confronts him and shakes the stolen money off of him before throwing him into Officer Scooter's patrol car. Soon after, he begins reviewing his capture technique with his butler, Alfred (Archibald Asparagus), but in the process accidentally knocks an unfinished plant off the ledge. The plant gets caught on some telephone wires on the way down, where a woman is gossiping on the phone, then falls into the sewers where the gossip brings the plant to life. The next morning, Alfred is speaking at a school and tells the teacher he needs to go home and "recharge his batteries" (meaning he needs to rest). Junior Asparagus and Laura Carrot take the figure of speech literally and jump to the false conclusion that Alfred is a robot. As they walk home, discussing what they had heard Alfred say, they encounter a small talking weed. Similar weeds begin to appear throughout town, spreading the rumor. Larry and Alfred are tending to a garden when Alfred heads inside to answer the phone. Another weed appears and tries to spread the rumor, but Larry doesn't listen. Alfred then calls Larry in. Mayor Blueberry (Madame Blueberry) informs him that strange weeds are growing all over the city and saying that the story that Alfred is a robot is a rumor. Suiting up as Larry-Boy, he dives into action. Larry-Boy manages to find a weed and attempts to shred it with a weed whacker, which malfunctions. Back at the Larry-Cave, Alfred discovers that all the weeds are connected to a "Mother Weed" underground. Upon arriving in the sewer, Larry-Boy meets the Mother Weed and is quickly overpowered. Alfred learns the citizens are afraid of him, saying that he is a "killer robot with laser eyes." Suddenly, the Mother Weed breaks free out from underground and snatches Alfred, but the citizens refuse to help. Dad Asparagus arrives and asks what's going on. The Mother Weed says she heard the story from "very reliable sources." Junior and Laura confess that they took Alfred literally and started the rumor. Dad explains to them that "even if it's true, God doesn't want us to tell stories that can hurt. He want us to spread nice words." Dad's words cause flowers to grow on the Mother Weed. Junior and Laura decide that the best way to save Alfred is to spread good words about him. They convince the citizens that Alfred is not a robot. The Mother Weed continues sprouting flowers until she transforms into a giant flower. After Alfred forgives everyone, Larry-boy comes out of the sewer. Unaware of the preceding events, he almost accidentally starts the rumor again by saying someone told him Alfred was a robot ( obviously the rumor weed), and eveyone gently sushes him. The story ends rather strangely with him asking if there was a flower show ( having seen flowers on what was once the rumor weed), and everyone laughs , thinking it's a joke as the story ends with a choral reminder, and a flower landing on the screen. In the final part, Larry-Boy and Alfred inact their own What Have We Learned segment with the verse: "Reckless words pierce like a sword , but the tounge of the wise brings healing," Proverbs 12:18. Characters * Larry/Larry-Boy * Alfred/Archibald Asparagus * Junior Asparagus * Laura Carrot * Mr. Nezzer * Madame Blueberry * Percy Pea * Lil' Pea * Dad Pea * The Rumor Weed * Mike Asparagus * Milk Money Bandit * Scooter Carrot * Bob(poster only) Locations *Bumblyburg Songs *Larry-Boy *The Rumor Weed Song Production The story concept was written by Doug Peterson, which at the time Phil was accepting ideas for future episodes when the company was growing. Mike Nawrocki was a bit skeptic at the time, due to the fact the episode sounded similar to the first Larry-Boy episode (kids caused trouble from something that grew big). But they eventually tweaked it to work it out. Phil at the time decided to push the limits on what they can do for the episode since they were getting ready for their first feature film, and he originally considered this as the last half-hour episode they'll work on. Home media It was first released July 27th, 1999 by Word Entertainment. On March 28th, 2000, Lyrick Studios reprinted it. In 2004, Warner Home Video reprinted it as part of the VeggieTales Classics. In August 14, 2006, Sony Wonder reprinted it as the re-release of LarryBoy and the Bad Apple. Fun Facts Moral *Be careful with what you're going to say. Trivia *This was the last episode to be rendered entirely in Softimage. *This was the final LarryBoy episode to be released on VHS. *This is the last VeggieTales episode of the 1990s. *The scene at the beginning involving Larry-Boy apprehending the Scallion was a concept originally intended to be part of the previous Larry-Boy episode, but it was cut due to time. *This episode is shown in the 2015 action thriller film "Agent 47". *This was the first and only episode to feature a pumpkin. After this episode, Big Idea stated that if they ever do crowd scenes that they would all be peas and carrots. *When Larry is talking to the mayor of Bumblyburg on his phone, you'll notice there is no cord but an antenna. The reason for the antenna is because animating cords is difficult. *This is the first VeggieTales episode not to feature Bob. The poster with him and Larry in the back of the classroom was the only time he appeared. *This is also the first Larry-Boy episode that Madame Blueberry appears in. *This was the first episode Marc Vulcano worked on. *This video was first premiered at the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. *Stock footage from Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space! was used before cutting to Percy Pea being confronted by the Rumor Weed. *In the sewer, where Larry-Boy presses the wrong button on his weapon and drops powder, it was considered at one point that Larry-Boy blows the powder on the Mother Weed, but it was later dropped to prevent making it look like Larry-Boy is snorting it. *This was the second episode not to feature the regular countertop. Although there's no beginning countertop, the ending countertop shows Larry-Boy and Alfred in the Larry-Cave instead of on the kitchen countertop. The countertop also lacks the "What We Have Learned" song and the "God Made You Special" message, though the duo do still read a verse from the Bible and conclude the episode, though in a fashion that involves Larry-Boy turning off a screen and the screen "shutting off" in a TV "shutoff" fashion. *Mike Asparagus is one of the few characters who did not believe Alfred was a "robot". *The episode was originally going to be released on November 1998, but was rescheduled back to 1999. Remarks *Because stock footage was used, the lighting from it has different contrast to the real episode. *The Scallion states Percy has $1.28, but when Larry-Boy shakes the money off the Scallion, the money he drops is actually $0.37. Was Percy somehow able to hold on to the other $0.97 or did the Scallion still have said $0.97 without Larry-Boy realizing it when he shook the $0.37 off him? *The previews menu has a preview for the next episode. *In the DVD-ROM section, it shows pictures from Dave and the Giant Pickle, Madame Blueberry, and Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie. Goofs *In the shot where Junior tells the weed his secret, the glass on her glasses flickers. *Two animation goofs appear after the Mother Weed emerges from the sewers. One is that she's missing her lipstick, and the second is that there's a black hole behind her head. This is noticeable once she grabs Alfred. *One shot shows weeds missing their shadows. *When Junior says "I don't know," he uses the same voice clip twice in a row. Inside References *The Milk Money Bandit is a reference to the bandits from Flibber-o-Loo where they steal Larry's milk money, which makes sense because Scallion 3 played one of those bandits. *On the streets their are street signs that say Vischer Street and Nawrocki Road. These are references to VeggieTales co-creators Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer. *A few mentions from the previous Larry-Boy episode: **Percy and his brother remembering what happened before when they left the movies. **Scooter saying it's another space alien, and him listening to I Can Be Your Friend in the car. Real-World References *The weed's smile after her creation is somewhat similar to Jim Carrey's smile from "The Mask". *Dad Carrot's line about Alfred having teenagers inside him that know karate is a reference to the Power Rangers series. Fast Forward *The phrase "Sweet, Sweet Petunia" would later be used for a later character. Episode Transcript *Transcript Gallery Category:Episodes Category:Larry-Boy episodes Category:VeggieTales episodes Category:VHS Category:DVDs Category:1990s Episodes Category:VCD Category:Episodes produced by Big Idea Category:In-house productions Category:Larry-Boy Category:Episodes aired on TV Category:Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed